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Drama grant means more new plays
September/October 2008
by Christopher Arnott
The Yale School of Drama and its affiliated Yale
Repertory Theatre have been at the forefront of new play development for quite
a while already. The Carlotta Festival offers full productions of works by
student playwrights, the Rep regularly stages world premieres, noted dramatist
Paula Vogel has been designated resident playwright at the Rep, and the Yale
Cabaret offers ample chances for extracurricular experimentation. Now, a
three-year, $2.85 million grant will allow the School of Drama to bring its
development of new works for the American theater to a new level. The grant
comes from the Robina Foundation, a Minneapolis-based fund established by the
late James H. Binger '38.
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The drama school has created the Yale Center for New Theatre.
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The Rep's associate artistic director, Jennifer
Kiger, says that even before Robina had cut a check, the Rep had over a dozen
current commissions in progress, from both established and up-and-coming
writers. An adaptation of Dostoevsky's novel Notes from Underground, scheduled for the Rep in spring
2009, will be funded in part by the grant. James Bundy '95MFA, dean of the
School of Drama and artistic director of the Rep, says the Robina millions will
fund, among other things, productions of plays at theaters other than Yale.
(The grant itself carries few restrictions beyond its agreed-upon purpose of
furthering new works for the theater.) Subsidizing secondary presentations or
tours of promising new plays can greatly extend the lives of works that may
otherwise be doomed to drop out of sight after their premieres. Thanks to
Robina's generosity, commissions of works with large casts—especially elaborate
musical theater pieces, which are expensive—are now more realistic.
To mark the importance of the grant, the drama school
has created the Yale Center for New Theatre. Bundy says the center is not a
physical space but an administrative home for various play development
projects, as well as a title that "entails the different level of commitment we
now can offer." The results won't be just a bonus for Rep subscribers, but
should be seen far and wide.
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